Wasted $100 on a cheap home energy monitor that never worked right

I bought this little device off Amazon to track my home's energy use and see where I could save. It was supposed to clip onto my breaker panel and connect to my phone. But after three days of trying to set it up, the app kept crashing and the readings were all over the place like 500% more than my actual bill. I spent hours on customer support and they just sent me a link to a forum post. Finally gave up and threw it in the junk drawer. That money could have gone toward a real energy audit from my local power company in Portland. Has anyone else had luck with those plug-in outlet monitors instead?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_baker612d agoTop Commenter

Wait is tracking your fridge really that big of a deal? Sounds like overthinking a $100 mistake.

quinn6061d ago

Kinda guilty of overthinking it myself tbh. @mileslane is right though about focusing on the big hogs. I spent way too much time last month obsessing over my phone charger draw only to realize my ancient basement fridge is what's actually draining the wallet. And yeah that $100 mistake stings but imagine my face when I realized I'd been tracking the same mini-fridge in the garage for three months before noticing it's unplugged. Classic move.

mileslane2d agoMost Upvoted

Tossed the whole panel clip idea after a similar waste of time and money. Those plug-in outlet monitors work way better for me, I use the Emporia Vue ones and they've been solid for over a year just plugging into individual outlets. The key is to only bother with the big energy hogs like your fridge or window AC, trying to track every single outlet will drive you nuts. Might be worth checking if your local Portland library even has those Kill A Watt meters to borrow before buying anything else.